Ore-concentrator.



J. WEATHERBY.

ORE CONCENTRATOR.

APPLICATION'IHLED OCT- 5, IQIB- L1%5,@%6@ Patented July 6, 1915.

5 SHEETSSHEET I.

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J. WEATHERB-Y.

ORE CONCENTRATOR.

APPLICATION FILED OCT- 6. 1913.

Patented July 6, 1915.

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IE I J. WEATHERBY.

ORE CONCENTRATOR.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 6. 1913.

l ,1%5,@6 Patented July 6, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3- W Q ,4; flttowwi .I. WEATHERBY.

ORE CONCENTRATOR.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 6. 1913.

1 145 0469 Patented July 6, 1915.

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1. WEATHERBY.

I ORE CONCENTRATOR. APPLICATION FILED OCT-6.1913.

1,145,046, Patented 6,1915.

5 SHE S- HEET 5- UNKTED snares Parana ormon JOSEPH 'WEATHERIBY, OF NEWCUMBERLAND, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 ELECTRIC ORE SEPARATOR COMPANY, OFNEW CUMBERLAND, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORA- TION 0F DELAWARE.

ORE-CONGENTRATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 6, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

'Be it known that I, JOSEPH W EATHERBY, a citizen of the United States,residing at New Cumberland, in the county of Cumberland and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inOre-Concentrators; and I do hereby declare the following to be-a full,clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to'theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and to thefigures and letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to ore concentrators being particularly, thoughnot exclusively, adapted to pulsating or shaking tables, especially ofthe type referred to in my prior Patent No. 1,071,975, granted September2, 1913, and designed to eliectually separate ore mixtures having suchslight difference in specific gravity as precludes their separation bythe ordinary process.

The objects of the invention are to simplify and improve the structureof the concentrator, increase its capacity, make a more effectualseparation of the ore mixtures possible, and provide means whereby aseries of different grades of material may result, or materials having aseries of different characteristics, may be separated by a singleoperation.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby portions ofthe mixture will be automatically subjected to a re-washing process orsuccession of re-washing processes, for the purpose of separatingtherefrom ingredients which may have been entangled therewith ormechanically held against separation at a previous stage of the process.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,--Figure l is a side elevation ofan ore concentrator embodying the present improvements, well known partsbeing omitted or indicated in gene 'al outline only. Fig. 2 is a topplan view of the table or deck, together with the pulp feed box and washwater pipes, the top magnets being entirely omitted. Fig. 3 is atransverse section, substantially in the plane indicated by the line 33in Fig. 1, looking toward the left or head motion end of the apparatus;Fig. 4 is fed to the table from a hopper F mounted 10- a perspectiveView of a fragment of the table showing one arrangement of means forelcvating the material traversing the grooves between the rifile bars;Figs. 5, 6, 7 and S are news corresponding to Fig. 4, but showingslightly different arrangements of the rill'les. Figs. 9, 10, 11, 12 and13 are cross sectional views more or less diagrammatic in character,illustrating different forms of rifiie bars and grooves in crosssection, any of said forms being adapted for use in connection with theconstructions shown in Figs. 1 to S, inclusive.

Like letters of reference in the several figures indicate the sameparts.

The type of machine adopted for illustrating the present invention isone embodying a double deck or table, that is to say, one in which theore mixture and wash water are fed along a central line and flow indivergent directions from said central line. thus increasing thecapacity of the table and permitting of an economical and advantageousarrangement of the magnetic fields and circuits.

The table or deck is indicated generally by the letter A and from Fig. 3it will be seen that it inclines in opposite directions from a centerline and is supported upon suitable longitudinal bearer-SA which are inturn carried by links A suitably mounted on a base frame B whereby thewhole table or deck may be reciprocated in a substantially horizontalplane. For imparting the usual reciprocatory movement-s a head motion 0is connected with the frame of the table at one end, as is common in theart at this day. Along each edge of the table is a series of troughs D,D, D adapted to receive the separated materials flowing down over theedge of. the table in a manner which will be presently described, one ofsaid. troughs being extended around the discharge end of the table as atD to catch material flowing from the end of the table remote from the'head motion end.

\Vash water is supplied to the table from Wash water pipes E, each pipepreferably embodying means whereby the water supplied to its side of thetable may be regulated independently of the other side and the pulp orore mixture to be separated is on one end of the table and communicatingeach side of the center line.

with discharge troughs f and f leading'to dliferent p ints in the lengthof the table on In the pre- 1 ferred construction the ore mixture isprevented from flowing freely into the troughs by a dam or partition Fover the upperedge of which the mixture is caused to spill by therecipro'catory movements of the table and hopper. lVith this arrangementit is possible to regulate the feed very accurately by blocking ofi'certain portions 9r all of the J dani or wall where the mixture feeds tothe troughs.

top plan. The riflie bars are of magnetic material and when theapparatus is in operation they are made highly ma gnetic, whereby theupper edge or edges of each rifile bar becomes a magnetic terminal, and

1 the magnetic field is concentrated to a very high degree with thelines of force converging to the edges of the bars. This generalprinciple is set forth in my prior patent before referred to, but in thepresent invention, the construction and arrangement of the riflie barsand grooves between the same, as well as the field magnets, whereby theintense magnetic fields are created, differ from the arrangementillustrated in said prior patent. In the present instance the doubledeck arrangement of the table permits of the formation of a perfectmagnetic circuit with a maximum economy and convenience of arrangementand with the least possible tendency to distort the table itself orinterfere with its. mechanical movements.

Field magnets G and G are located above and below the table,suchTi'agfie'ts preferably having four'windings g for each magnet andelongated pole pieces Gr above and below the portion of the table havingthe riflle bars and grooves therein. EaQhZmag-i net is therefore in theformb f/f I multiple horse-shoe magnet, and the pole pieces which arebrought into proximity to the upper and lower surfaces of the table havetheir faces inclined" to correspond to the inclination of the table, theeffect being to producea very .uniform magnetic circuit with the-linesof force uniformly distributed in the gaps in which the table islocated.

The magnetic rifiles or rifiie barsmay be of laminated construction asin said former patent, but are preferably formedby milling out thegrooves in the upper side of plates H that they may be incorporatedinthe table structure in such manner that their alinement and positionwill be maintamed 1n spite of the traction exerted by the field magnets.

By reference to Fig. 2, it will be seen that' the magnetic riflie barsin the particular machine adopted for illustrating the invention arearranged in four groups, two on each side of the tableand'each group isadapted to receive the discharge from one of the feed troughs f, 7'.Between the sets of riflle bars on each side of the table there is ablank "space a which serves to separate the sets of riifie bars andinsures the movement of gangue from the first set transversely of thetable before it can reach the second set, and the several sets of,rifiies will therefore act practically independently of each other, butare all adjusted and operated simultaneously so as to give,.ifdesired,corresponding uniform results. In some instances, however, owing to thecharacter of the product sought to be produced it is desirable to makethe riflie bars in each set differ from the other in their relativearrangement, As shown at the upper side of Fig. 2 the rifile bars I ofthe two sets are all practically of full length, one of said sets,however, being provided at various intermediate'points with gangueelevating inclines i to be presently described in detail, and the otherof said sets being provided only at the ends with gangue elevatinginclines a". At the bottom of Fig. 2 the sets of rifile bars are ofdifferential length; that is to say, each set is composed of relativelyshort bars I, bars I of intermediate length, and long bars 1". All ofthe bars may be provided with gangue elevating inclines i, or, ifdesired, longer bars of the set remote from the head motion end or atthe discharge end of the table may extend out to the edge of the table,as at i where the material will be caught in the end trough D Thearrangement and construction of the rifiie bars and grooves between thesame will be better understood from an inspection of .Figs. 4 to 8,inclusive; "thus, in Fig. 4 it will be seen that between each of therifile bars I and at suitable succeeding distances of the bars, wheresuch material will be washed over into lower grooves and any susceptiblematerial which has been entangled therewith will be supported by themagnetic edges and magnetic bridges between the rifile bars andWill-fiow with the water transversely of the grooves while the gangueV611 drop into the. grooves and be progressed to their discharge end.

In Figs. 5, 6 and 7 it will'be seen that the.

grooves are provided with long inclined ore supporting surfaces 2' whichincline upwardly toward the discharge end, and this incline may becontinued to gradually elevate the material traveling in the groovesuntil it is all, or the desired portion of it, elevated into the planeof the edges of the riifie bars, or the relatively sharp inclines i maybe employed for elevating the material when traveling a relatively shortdistance longitudinally of the grooves. As shown in Figs. 7 and 8, theinclines 2' at the ends of the bars I and I are of the character shownat z" in Fig. 6, while the lowermost grooves of the set open out at theends, as at 2' where the grooves are of much reduced depth and if theyare full of material the upper portion of the material will be elevatedto the level of the edges of the ritlle bars. The con struction shown inperspective in Fig. 7 corresponds to the set of ril'fles in the lowerright hand corner of Fig. 2, and the construe tion shown in Fig. 8corresponds to that shown in the lower left hand corner of Fig. :2.

The shape in'cross section of the rillie bars and grooves between thesame, it is obvious may be variously modified without departing from theinvention, and some modification may be desirable in operating oncertain classes of material. The preferred form of rillle bars andgrooves is that shown in Fig.

13. which figure, together with Figs. 9 and 10, shows a table or deck inwhich rililed areas are inclined at rather an accentuated angle, thisbeing done in order to accentuate the illustration of the forms of thebars and grooves. In Fig. 13, which illustrates the preferredconstruction, the riflle bars project vertically, or at an acute angleto the angleof inclination of the deck or table, and the bottom or oresupporting surfaces if of the groove are horizontal in cross sec tion,this construction giving the greatest capacity for gangue material inthe groove with the greatest freedom of movement longitudinally of thegroove under the influence of the table movements. In this constructionalso the upper edges of the riflle bars on the lower side are'roundedoff or formed at a greater inclination than the table, as at 77, wherebythe greatest concentration of the lines of magnetic force will he to theupper edges, and susceptible material. when moved transversely away fromsaid upper edges by the force of the water, will slide over the surfaceof the riflle bars into a portion of the field which is lessconcentrated, and will be immediately carried across the groovesupported it were on the magnetic bridge having its linesot'concentration. to the upper edge of the next rilile bar. This detail ofconstruction permit.- of an increase in the rapiditv with which theapparatus may be operated or the quantity of material operated on in agiven time, and for this reason it is preferred. but effective and forsome materials better arrangements are as indicated in Figs. 9 and 10;thus, in Fig. 9 the grooves substantially correspond to the grooves inFig. 13, but the upper edges of the rillie bars are cut at an anglewhich substantially corresponds to the angle of inclination of the deckor table, as shown at i in said Fig. 9. In Fig. 10 the rilfle bars andgrooves are at right angles to the plane of the deck or table, and,therefore, the upper edges 1'" of the ritile bars and the bottom orsupporting surfaces 2' of the grooves are parallel with the plane of thedeck or table. In Fig. 11, the grooves i are of V-shape, while therill'le bars taper upwardly and have narrow fiat upper edges 2'. In Fig.12, the grooves have one incline and one straight face, as at while thebars have narrow fiat upper edges or faces at i.

In order to conduct certain of the separated materials from the edge ofthe table across the troughs D and D movable extensions of the table areprovided which form in effect bridges or chutes which will deposit thematerial flowing onto or through the same in the outer trough ortroughs, as the case may be. These movable extensions or bridges areindicated in Fig. 2 at L and L, and it will be understood that they maybe shifted longitudinally of the troughs to take the proper grade ofmaterial and conduct the same into the desired trough.

In the operation of the apparatus it is designed that the inner trough Dshall receive the concentrate, the middle trough middlings and the outertrough gangue material. With this in mind, the operation of theapparatus will be quite apparent to those skilled in the art, for theore mixture fed to the upper portion of the deck or table will bedistributed to the riflled areas in the well known way and, as explainedin the patent before referred to, the material tlowing across theseareas will be separated both by reason of the difference in specificgravity of the different ingredients and by reason of the difference inmagnetic susceptibility,

the more susceptible material being support ed by the magnetic bridgesas it were, whereby it will flow transversely of the riflies. Theconcentration. of the lines of magnctic force to the magnetic terminalsor rilile edges serves to eflectually prevent the more susceptiblematerial from dropping down into the grooves, while the less susceptiblematerial drops into the grooves and is progressed longitudinally of thesame by the mechanical action of the table.

In the practical operation of the apparatus it is found that when workedto its capacity, which seems to be limited only by the capacity of thegrooves to carry off the gangue material, there is a. tendency of the itwill inevitably be moved into contact forced down into the grooves suchmaterial is liable to be progressedand discharged with the gangue. Thepresentinvention,

however, provides a means whereby this. maur1al' 1s effectuallyrecovered, lnasmuch as the gangue material is elevated'out of thegrooves and into the plane of the magnetic terminals during its progressalong the grooves and when it is still in position to be dropped 'intoother grooves and progressed to the proper point of discharge. Thiselevation of the gangue material with any of the more susceptiblematerial gives the mixture'what might be termed a rewashing, and leavesthe more susceptible material supported in the magnetic field, for

with the magnetic terminals and will thereafter be supported above thegrooves in position to flow or travel transversely of the I riffles.

Referring particularly to the lower portion of Fig. 2 of the drawings,it will be seen that any gangue material traveling along the grooves inthe portion I of the rifiled area will be elevated out of the grooves ata point where it will be deposited in the grooves of the portion 1*, andthe material traveling in the grooves of the portion I will be elevatedat a point where it will be deposited in the grooves of the portion IThe material traveling in the grooves I will be elevated to the plane ofthe table surface and will flow off as gangue material down over theextension L into the outer or gangue trough D The middlings, it isfound, will flow in a zone which is substantially coincident with thenarrower bridge or extension L and will be conducted by it into themiddlings trough D, while the concentrate will be deposited in theconcentr'ate trough D in a zone which is to the left of the bridge ortable extension L in Fig. 2.

' The table is preferably given a slight inclination from the headmotion end upwardly toward the gangue discharge end, thus producing atendencv of the water to flow from the gangue di'scharge'end toward theore feed end, or in a measure in opposition to the direction in whichthe gangue travels by reason of the table movement.

It is obvious from the foregoing that'the.

inclined ore supporting surfaces in the grooves may be variouslyarranged without departing from the present invention, and in someinstances it is found desirable to form the grooves and bars by millingplates of magnetic metal from end to end, and inserting filling pieceswith inclined faces -where the inclined surfaces are on thereon, asshown, forexample, in Fig. 4 filling blocks which are inserted in thegrooves at appropriate points.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. An ore concentrator embodying a table on which Stratification andseparation is effected, riflie bars having magnetic terminal edgesmounted in the table, with grooves between said bars having oresupporting sur- 'faces therein inclined to elevate the ore traveling inthe grooves, up to the plane the terminal edges of the bars.

2. An ore concentrator embodying a table on which Stratification andseparation is cffected, rifiie bars mounted in the table and havingmagnetic terminal edges, 1 with grooves between said bars having ore supporting surfaces inclined upwardly to elevate the ore traveling in thegrooves up to the plane of said terminal edges, the inclined surfaces indifi'erent grooves terminating at difierent-distances from the dischargeedge of the table, whereby ore elevated out of one groove will bedeposited in another at a point nearer the discharge edge.

3. An ore concentrator embodying an inclined table on whichstratification and separation is effected, riflie bars on the tableextending at an angle to the plane of inclination of the table, withgrooves between said'bars having ore supportingsurfaces inclined upwardyin the direction of travel of the material in said grooves to elevatethe ore up to the plane of the top of the bars, whereby the ore soelevated will be deposited in a succeeding groove in the direction ofthe inclination of the table.

4. An ore concentrator embodying a table on which Stratification andseparation is effected, riflie bars having magnetic terminal edgesmounted-in the table, with grooves between said bars arranged in groupsof different lengths with means for elevating the ore traveling in thegrooves of shorter length, whereby it will be deposited in the groovesof greater length. l

5. An ore concentrator embodying a table on which stratification andseparation is effected, and riflie bars mounted therein and spaced toform intermediategrooves', said grooves having bottom ore supportingsurfaces inclined upwardly toward the discharge ends of the grooves,whereby the ore traveling in the grooves will be elevated into 6. An oreconcentrator embodying a table on which stratification and separation iseffected, rifile bars having magnetic terminal edges mounted in thetable, with grooves between said bars having their bottom ore supportingsurfaces inclined upwardly toward the discharge ends of the grooves at arelatively slight angle, the terminal portions of said ore supportingsurfaces being inclined upwardly at a relatively sharp angle whereby theore traveling in the grooves will be gradually elevated as it progressesand finally lifted into the plane of the magnetic edges of the bars bythe abruptly inclined portions oi. the surfaces.

7. An ore concentrator embodying a table on which stratification andseparation is of tected, ritlle bars of magnetic material mounted in thetable with grooves between said bars having ore supporting surfacesinclined upwardly toward the discharge end to elevate the ore into theplane of the edges of the bars, said bars and grooves being arranged ingroups of different lengths with the bars and grooves of shortest lengthremote from the discharge edge of the table and the bars and grooves ofgreatest length in proximity to the discharge edge of the table, wherebymaterial discharged from the grooves of one group will travel into thegrooves of another group in 1ts progress toward the discharge.

8. In an ore concentrator, the combination with means for creating amagnetic field embodying top and bottom field magnets, each having twoelongated pole pieces of opposite polarity, the pole pieces of the topand bottom magnets being arranged pposite to each other, whereby intensemagnetic fields are created between them, of a reciprocatorv table onwhich stratification and separation is effected mounted in the magneticfield between each of the opposed pole pieces said table embodyingrifiie bars of magnetic material with terminal edges to which the linesof magnetic vtorce converge, and in *anst'or reciprocating said table,and means for feeding ore to be separated to the table. between the polepieces of the top magnet and means near the outer sides of said solepieces for receiving the separated ore.

9. In an ore concentrator wherein separation and concentration isetl'ected in a dense magnetic field, an ore supporting and separatingsurface embodying riille bars of magnetic material having their upperedges rounded on the side toward which the ore travels across saidedges, whereby the ore t *avels through a field of decreasing densityover each bar.

10. In an ore concentrator, the combination with a magnet having a polepiece with an inclined under face, of an inclined ore supporting andseparating table in proximity to the under face of the pole piece, saidtable embodying rii'llebars oi magnetic ma terial with groovestherebetween, each of said bars being formed with its upper oresupporting edge face inclined at a greater angle than the inclination ofthe face of the pole piece, whereby ore supported by the rifile baredges will t 'avel across the same through a field of decreasingmagnetic density.

11. In an ore concentrator, the combination with a magnet having a. polepiece with an inclined under face, of an inclined ore supporting andseparating table in proximity to the under face of the pole piece, saidtable embodying ritlle bars of magnetic material with groovestherebetween, each of said bars being formed with its upper oresupporting edge face rounded at a greater inclination than that of theface of the pole piece, whereby ore supported by each rifile bar edgewill travel across the same through a field of decreasing magneticdensity.

1:2. In an ore concentrator, the combination of an inclined table onwhich separation and stratification of the ore mixture is effected,means for creating amagnetic field in the path of the mixture, thematerial of greater magnetic permeability being supported in theeffective area of the magnetic field, and means for successivelybringing the material of lesser magnetic permeability into and out ofthe effective area of the magnetic field in lines deviating from thedirection of normal gravital flow, to divide the ore mixture into gradeswhose characteristics are different degrees of magnetic ,permeability.

13. In an ore concentrator, the combination of an inclined table onwhich separation and stratification of the ore mixture is effected,means for creating a magnetic field, portions of the table lying withinthe effective area of the magnetic field, the material of greatermagnetic permeability being supported in the elfective area of thefield, and

means for causing the material of lesser magnetic permeability to travelsuccessively over said portions in lines deviating from the direction ofnormal gravital fiow to bring said material into and out of the efiective area of the magnetic field and divide the ore mixture into gradeswhose characteristics are different degrees of magnetic permeability.

14. In an ore concentrator, the combination of an inclined reciprocatorytable on which separation and stratification of the ore mixture iseffected, means for creating a magnetic held on the table, whereby the,niaterial of greater magnetic permeability is supported in the GfiGCtIVQ area 01 the field and advanced in a direction substantiallytransverse to the general directimi. of reciprocati on of the table, thematerial of lesser magnetic permeability moving substantially, the oremixture into grades whose characin the directionof reciprocation of thetable, teristics are difieren't degrees of magnetic 13 and rlneaifns forsuccessively bringirlgjg1 the mapermeability, substantially asdescribed.

teria 0 esser' magnetic permea iity into 5 and out of the effective areaof the magnetic JOSEPH WEATHERBY' field in lines deviating from thedirection of Witnesses: normal gravital flow, whereby continued ELwoonD. 0. Ross,

operation of the concentrator acts to divide G. P. YETTER.

Copies of this patent may be olit'ained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

